BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon met with representatives of the employment and labor to discuss the impact of the financial crisis, in particular on jobs and growth.
The "tripartite summit" also addressed the impact of climate change and energy policy on employment and social cohesion, including the potential for "green jobs."
"In the current financial crisis, Europe is showing its capacity to act together to secure a sustainable future of our financial and economic system to protect our citizens. The transformation of Europe into a low-carbon economy is another way in which we are building a more sustainable Europe," said Barroso.
"I call on member states to adopt the energy and climate package by the end of the year," he said.
There are fears that the EU's ambitious emissions reduction targets could be a victim of the current financial crisis which has hit EU member states hard.
Vladimir Spidla, EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, who attended the meeting, also sought to soothe both employment and labor representatives.
"We understand workers' concerns about their job prospects in these uncertain times ... But we must not let today's uncertainties detract us from the challenges of tomorrow: while jobs might disappear in energy-intensive sectors, those losses can be more than compensated by new 'green jobs.' It would be wrong to think that moving to a green economy is incompatible with an economic downturn," he said.
The social partners gave their views on how to tackle the turmoil on the world's financial markets and the banking crisis. Participants stressed the need to carefully analyze the impact the financial crisis may have on the job market.
At the meeting, EU leaders and social partners also discussed the implications of the move to a low-carbon economy on employment and the social situation.
